


[Heart]Beat, De[feat of strength]

by kermit_the_frog



Series: i was the king of pain in unspeakable cruelty [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Blood and Gore, Dark Ending, Dark God Ryan Haywood, Gen, Swearing, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 05:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13117251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kermit_the_frog/pseuds/kermit_the_frog
Summary: Ryan’s manic laughter echoed through the whole city. Michael could see his friends -his real friends- yelling and shouting and only then did he glance down. Piercing through his chest was pure dark. Shadow solidified. Dark, twisting, ever so slightly expanding and Michael’s shocked gasp was cut short.Ryan has been taken over by the Dark God and now it's too late for Achievement City, too late for anyone.





	[Heart]Beat, De[feat of strength]

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to try maybe using AO3 more, so I'm reposting some old things from my tumblr (teambattlebuddies.tumblr.com) on here.  
> This was a commission piece for QueenCoeurl.

An example. That’s what Ryan had made him. Michael only felt the dull ache through numbness but he knew, by the horrified faces of his friends, that he couldn’t look good. Thank god for shock, right?

Ryan’s manic laughter echoed through the whole city. Michael could see his friends -his real friends- yelling and shouting and only then did he glance down. Piercing through his chest was pure dark. Shadow solidified. Dark, twisting, ever so slightly expanding and Michael’s shocked gasp was cut short by blood leaking it’s way into his lungs.

Fuck.

His vision swam and maybe it was blood loss. Perhaps he was about to die. More likely though he was fainting. Rarely would a body have no response to being pierced through the chest, and Ryan wouldn’t let him die so easily. No, no. Michael would pay for this; leading this rebellion, striking Ryan. A Dark God he called himself now, well the prospects certainly were dark. He was well and truly, thoroughly fucked.

“Michael!” Jeremy screamed, rushing to his side as he slumped - stuck standing by the spike. The torch Michael had been holding - the one that Ryan had snuffed out to let his shadows reach Michael - fell from his grip. Jeremy’s own light illuminated Michael’s pale bloodstained face and dissolved the darkness. Michael collapsed, caught before he was fully prone, just stuck kneeling, unconscious, at Jeremy’s side.

Gavin was not far behind him. Geoff and Jack creeping up more cautiously, but shocked and fearful nonetheless. They had screamed too. Jeremy was sure they had, the screamed with him. Maybe not all ‘Michael’, maybe not the same thing, all of them, but they had yelled too, Jeremy realises.

Through the blood and the whispers and clutching Michael, there’s gavin next to him, wild eyed and now - of all times- scared.

What an inconvenient time to choose to be scared.

That laughter echoes through model houses and over unused chimneys. Vacant. Louder and louder and it’s like a hall of mirrors. Each way bellows that cackle and Jeremy’s blood soaked hands - Michael soaked - grip tight to the torch and Jack and Geoff move further in. They light this street so Ryan can’t touch them. Darkness looms ever closer. Each shadow sickly twisting each way to remind them that this could all be over so soon. It can all be over so quickly.

Michael groans.

Jeremy’s hands are soaked.

Gavin whimpers and holds on tighter to Michael, clutching his very soul to its earthly form.

Jeremy’s hands slide across his skin.

Jack grabs his hilt, brandishing his torch like he was a brave man, not trembling.

Geoff stands, steely eyed.

Jeremy’s hands reek of iron.

Jeremy’s hands clutch and hold and keep together all of reality from splitting from him.

Jeremy makes a choice.

\--

Ryan is no longer Ryan. The Dark God allows his shadows to part just enough for his face to poke through, surveying the onlookers carefully. Onlookers. They had thought him a friend. Perhaps he had thought of them in much the same way a lifetime ago. Of course this was before the crown and the great reign of the once and future king. Of course, that was before Ryan slowly but surely slipped away and something else came to be. That mixture between the two shed it’s old skin. Reborn into the world he was all that was left of their dear friend.

Ryan is dead.

The mad king is dead.

Long Live The Dark God.

“So you have chosen to revolt?” His voice booms from every nook and cranny, every dark surface. The Shadows howl with him. “You have chosen to let the Bear lead you into battle?” He laughs and the darkness laughs with him, “Such a stupid creature. Such stupid humans, to think you could defeat me.”

“Ryan!” And he whips around. The Dark God whips around. Who dares speak to their God like this? Refer to him by his human name? He is far more than human. Far better than human.

Again, “Ryan!” This voice calls. The short one yells at him, stepping away from his friend. “Ryan, please. I’ll do anything. We’ll do anything. Just… save him.”

The others, the two tallest, look at the short one incredulously, trying to shout him down. Ignoring his sacrifice. This is something The Dark God can respect, even if he does not understand. A self sacrifice is noble, a past life tells him, putting others before yourself for the greater good is bravery.

And what a stupid thing bravery was. Nevertheless, he considered. “Would you take his punishment?”

The little lad looked nervous now, shuffling, glancing down at his fallen friend. “…What-” He clenched his fists and unclenched, “w-would it be death?”

The shadows tittered.

The Dark God thought.

“No. But you will wish it was.”

Now, what would the lad do? What could he do but refuse. Leave the dying friend to succumb to blood loss. Cut his losses.

The intriguing things about humans is how much more value they place on others than themselves. Self esteem issues, probably.

“Anything,” Little more than a whisper but the shadows heard, and echoed. Confused. “I’ll do anything.”

All those still able to, jumped to their feet, trying to physically restrain the youngest now, but the little lad arced his torch. Throwing it high and far and there was just darkness enough for The Dark God to wrap tendrils around his body, pulling him into the dark.

\--

In this space, Jeremy was just as likely to tell you the next result of a coin flip as he was to tell you if his eyes were open or closed. Not an inch given by the dark.

“You would endure pain beyond pain for your friend?” Ryan hums from all around him. Rhetorical. Of course it is.

“Show me he’s healed first!” Jeremy yells, very aware that at this point Ryan doesn’t have to keep any promises. So incredibly aware that he walked into this serpent’s nest and he has no leverage.

The Darkness still parts and Michael seems to be sitting up, dazed. Confused. Alive.

“You’ll come to regret this decision.” Ryan tells him. And yeah, Jeremy knows. He knows he’ll think about this every damn day. Think about what if he had just let Michael die, but for now. He can’t do that. He could never do that.

“Let’s start off easy.” Ryan says before Jeremy feels the darkness press him perfectly still and a hand laid flat against his chest. “You’re going to regret this so much,” Ryan sing songs before plunging his hand straight through his chest. Breaking the ribs.

Bits of bone puncture his lungs and Jeremy chokes. There’s this awful sensation as Ryan strokes his heart and he can feel it all the way up his neck as it’s caressed and as raw and sensitive as pure muscle is Jeremy can feel himself try to vomit. Ryan gives his heart - the beating heart in his chest that is wide open - a great tug and Jeremy feels his throat go raw from the screaming.

\--

“What’s happening?” Michael asks, sick to his stomach and searching for the source of the noise. “Where’s jeremy?”

Jack looks down at him and his eyes are so sad. Jeremy’s screams fill the town.

“Where the fuck is he, damnit!” Michael yells, pushing himself into Jack’s face. Jack just looks away.

“Boi…” Gavin’s arm is on his shoulder and Michael vomits right there. Acid burning his throat because it should have been him.

Gavin’s crying and Michael needs to punch someone. Punch something.

Geoff still stands there, glaring into the darkness.

“We’ll get that motherfucker. We’ll bring Jeremy back.”

“How?!” Michael screams. They worked on this plan for weeks and it all went to shit.

“I don’t know.” Geoff says but in such a cold determined voice even Michael can’t laugh at him. “But he’s going to pay. **”**


End file.
